


Bond's Home for Magical Children

by therunawaypen



Series: 00Q Tumblr Prompt Fills [48]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Children, Gen, M/M, Magic, Witch Hunters, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/therunawaypen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James was abandoned when it was discovered he could use magic. Now that he's grown up, he's taken in several children who were abandoned like him. He teaches them their magic and how to make sure they are never discovered.</p><p>Q, one of his "children," isn't very careful using his magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Hey. I have a prompt. James is the caretaker of a group of magic kids who live in a secret house. His job is to keep them out of trouble and out of sight. But Q is always in trouble." —anon

There were some people who believed that life would be much simpler if they could use magic. James would politely argue that these people didn’t have one bloody clue what they were talking about. They had no idea how complicated magic made life. He’d probably tell them all the stories of parents who drowned their children when they first saw their little one flying on a broomstick, or who would abandon their child when they learned the child could turn stones to bread. In hindsight, it wasn’t so much magic that was the problem, but rather the outside view of magic.

James supposed he should consider himself one of the lucky ones: he had simply been left on the doorstep of a hag who was rumored to be a witch.

The witch part was true, the hag part not so much. But Olivia had taught him plenty about magic and the things he could and could not do. And so, when he was old enough, James was sent out to his own home, far enough out of the way so no one would bother him, but close enough to the nearest town so that he could always get supplies.

He wasn’t sure when he started collecting children, all he knew was that one day, children were being left on his doorstep, or he’d find a child clinging to life on the banks of an icy river or on the side of the road beaten half to death. Their stories varied, but the fact that was all the same was that they were all magical and they had all been abandoned.

So James took any magical child he found into his home: he’d feed them, clothe them, teach them, raise them until they were ready to make their own way in the world. And while James found himself as a surrogate parent to many of these children, he would more often describe himself as their protector.

Because if anyone discovered the truth about the children living in his home, no doubt danger would come their way.

Though sometimes the biggest threat to the children was their own recklessness.

“Q! Get down here!” James shouted up at the sky.

The young man in question looked down from his position in the sky, sitting quite comfortably on his broom, “Why?”

James grit his teeth, “Because someone might see you! You’re far too high up there!”

Q rolled his eyes, but none the less flew down to a lower level, “Better, old man?”

He knew the boy was baiting him, but frankly James didn’t care that much as he snapped his fingers, sending a hex at Q. The resulting yelp was rewarding enough.

The dark haired young man was the oldest of the children currently under James’s care, and he was by far the most troublesome James had ever had to deal with. Unlike most in James’s care, Q had come to James on his own, simply walking up to the house and knocking on the front door. James would never  forget the day when Q had blandly told him “Mummy says I can’t live with her anymore, can I live here?” as if he were asking to borrow a cup of sugar.

It was probably Q’s nonchalance that made him such a danger to himself and everyone in James’s house. He simply  _didn’t_   _fear_  what might happen to him.

“It’s time for supper, Q, get down from the broom and help your brothers and sisters wash up.”

Q rolled his eyes, landing with relative ease, “I don’t know why they don’t just charm themselves clean…”

“Because, Q.” James sighed, “They all need to learn to do things without magic to avoid being found out.”

Swinging the household broom over his shoulder, Q shrugged, walking back into the house. James followed behind him, desperately resisting the urge to throttle the uppity teen.


	2. Chapter 2

James could sense danger long before he could hear or see it.  He had taken great care in placing protective runes all around the secluded area where he and the children lived, carving them into the occasional tree or well-placed stone, making sure they would not be easily discovered by those who would hunt and kill magic.

And so when James felt a chill run down his spine, he knew that there were witch hunters about. And that they needed to hide.

“Children!” He called, urging the children inside. At once, the great clean up began: every magical item was taken from the shelves and moved into the depths of the cellars. Every trace of newt tongue and bat ear was cleaned from the kitchens, the cauldrons moved from the kitchen table, every book of spells and potions removed from the bookshelves and moved beneath the house.

Once he was sure every magical artifact was safely in the cellar, James shut the trap door covering the cellar, drawing a quick rune of protection on the floor in ink before covering the space with the house’s only rug. He turned to the children, who were all shaking in fear at the prospect of being caught. Some of the younger ones were sending off spells on accident, something that would only prove disastrous in the face of witch hunters.

James grabbed several baskets from the kitchen, “Go into the forests, pick whatever fruit you can find,” He told the older children, “Take the little ones with you to help out.”

They all knew that by “help out,” James meant to keep the younger children out of the way, but none of the older children said anything.

“Do not return until sunset,” James continued, handing out the baskets, “If you see a lantern in the kitchen window, you will know that the danger has passed and you can enter the house safely. If not…you must be careful…” That’s when James’s gaze went over the children carefully, and he realized one was missing, “Where is Q?”

The children shook their heads, not knowing where their older “brother” was. As he heard the sound of approaching horses, James knew he did not have time to find the teen, “Quickly, into the forest with you!” He hissed, ushering the children out of the house with their baskets and their warmest cloaks.

Leaving him alone to face the witch hunters when they came knocking on his door. As a child, James had always hidden behind Olivia whenever the witch hunters had come calling, but now it was his turn to protect his own hoard of magical youth.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.” He said calmly as he opened the door, facing the armed men. “What brings you to these parts?”

The leader shook his head, “Nothing good, my good man.”  He stated, “There’s been talk of witches in these parts, and we’ve been searching the area for anything unnatural.”

James did his best to look startled as the hunters entered the small house, “Witches? In these parts? Surely it’s just gossip going about from town to town.”

“Wish we could just dismiss it as gossip,” The armed witch hunter stepped into James’s kitchen, “but you can’t be too sure these days, eh mister…”

“Bond,” James said, “James Bond.”

“You’ve got a lot of beds in this little house, Mister Bond,” One of the hunters called from one of the back bedroom, where the children slept.

James took a deep breath, “I house foundling children, those without parents. I teach and feed them until they can make their way in the world.”

The hunter raised an eyebrow, “That’s awfully charitable of you, Mister Bond.” He said slowly, “You and your wife must love children.”

“No wife, sir.” James said slowly.

Now all the hunters were looking at him curiously. No doubt James could imagine their disbelief of a bachelor taking in a horde of children not his own and raising them. And he knew he didn’t look the part of a kindly loner taking in children out of the goodness of his heart.

It was then that the front door open and shut with a _slam_ , “Man, the fishing today was just wonderful! We’ll be feasting like kings for a week, I swear…”

If ever there was a moment Q could have had the worst timing, this would have been it. James could see his most reckless ward standing in the center of the front room, holding a long line of fish that James _knew_ had been caught magically (the lack of fishing pole was a giveaway), surrounded by witch hunters. James could practically feel his heart stopping.

Q on the other hand, looked mildly stunned, “I didn’t know we were having company…”

James cleared his throat, trying to think on his feet, “These men are merely investigating rumors of witches in the area…can’t be too careful…” He could only pray that Q would get the hint and behave himself for _once_.

“Witches?” Q had the decency to act surprised, “I sincerely hope not!”

The lead hunter gave a snort, “I can see why you don’t have a wife.” He remarked snidely, “And since you had such a good catch today, why don’t you cook up some of those fish? My men have had a long day of travel.”

If James could have crawled under a rock, he would have. Now the hunters thought that Q was his catamite and they would both have to play the part and entertain the group of hunters long enough for them to get bored and go on their way. All while the children were out in the forest, waiting for word on when it would be safe for them to return.

It was up to him and Q. Merlin help them both.


	3. Chapter 3

It was possibly the worst case scenario: trapped in the house with witch hunters, while the children were alone out in the woods, with only Q as his only backup. Not that Q was a bad kid, or that he didn’t feel like he could trust him, but…it was Q, his most reckless ward.

A reckless witch under the observation of keen hunters. It was a disaster waiting to happen. But not if James had anything to say about it, because it wasn’t just his and Q’s lives on the line, there were half a dozen children whose lives were also in the balance.

And damn if James was going to see any of them burn.

“Q, _darling._ ” James started, “Why don’t you  get some tea going, and I’ll get the fish started?”

Q nodded slowly, nearly fleeing into the kitchen with the fish he had caught.

“You do the cooking then, not the little lad?” One of the hunters smirked, the scar on his cheek puckering . The rest of the hunters began to laugh, loud and scathing to James’s ears.

No doubt the entire evening would be spent mocking him and Q, but James couldn’t bring himself  to care. If it meant that the children would be safe, he’d dance on the tabletop for all the hunters.

“The boy would burn toast if given the chance.” James replied, giving them an exasperated look, “I don’t trust him near the stove.”

Now that wasn’t technically true. Q was quite adept in making several things, and had cooked a number of meals for the rest of the children.

With magic.

And since that was _not_ an option, James would have to cook dinner for the men he had grown up fearing and hating. He only hoped that they would be gone before the children returned.

It was as James made his way to the kitchen that Q returned with a tea tray and several cups, “Here you are, gentlemen.” He smiled, setting the tray on the table. While Q was not very talented in cooking without magic, he could always be trusted to make an amazing cup of tea. As long as he resisted the urge to put any “extra” herbs in the brew…

“Don’t you have anything stronger?” James heard the lead hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This is a house full of children,” Q replied tensely, “We don’t exactly drink that much.”

Oh, James hoped Q’s temper wouldn’t get the best of him, he hoped he could last long enough for James to finish fixing a dinner for those…monsters.

It was only when James picked up a fish and found it completely limp that he realized he had accidently deboned it with magic. He swore to himself. He was so worried about Q being reckless, and here he was unable to keep control of his own magic. There could be no mistakes.

James didn’t make anything fancy, he just fried the fish with salt and pepper. His real goal was to feed and dismiss the guards as soon as possible.

It was perhaps the tensest meal James had ever faced. Not only because he was dining with men who had a great desire to see him and his little makeshift family burn in hellfire and the fact the children were still in the woods, waiting for his signal; but also because Q had been more or less forced to sit in James’s lap as they played the happy couple.

If James was tense, Q was barely able to keep from falling apart at the seams. More than once did James catch the young witch nervously scratching runes on the underside of the table, until finally James had to take Q’s hands and hold them in one of his own.

“You’ve got quite the catch, Mr. Bond.” The lead hunter smirked, “And I’m not referring to the fish.”

Q stiffened on James’s lap, his breath catching in his throat. James gave Q’s hands a reassuring squeeze, “He sure is, I’m a lucky man.” He nodded slowly, feeding Q a piece of fish.

The hunter watched the exchange with a leer in his eye, “He must be so lonely up here, away from people. I’m sure we could give him plenty company tonight.”

If it weren’t for the fact that James had to play nice to get these men out of his home, he would have hexed the man for saying such vile things. And damned if James was going to let Q be a victim of these men in _any_ way, “I’m afraid not.” He started calmly, “He’ll be plenty…busy tonight. Isn’t that right?” He finished, looking at Q.

It was gut-wrenching to see Q, spirited and reckless Q, so uncomfortable. “Of course…” he said lowly, playing along. But then Q took it a step further, surging forward and planting a kiss firmly on James’s lips.

He really should have learned to expect the unexpected when it came to Q. Of course Q would pull a stunt like this, with the hunters catcalling loudly at the two of them. When Q finally did pull away, he was blushing furiously.

“Why don’t you go clean up the dishes?” James finally said, “I’ll deal with you after our guests leave.”

Q nodded, taking all the plates into the kitchen and using it as a chance to escape.

“Well,” The lead hunter stood slowly, “I guess we should leave you to your _important_ _business._ ”

James stood as well, “It was a pleasure, gentlemen. I wish you luck on your quest.” The words felt like poison on his tongue, to wish these monsters anything but death.

But he stood at the door, waving to the hunters as they made their way to their horses. It was only when they began to ride off that James returned to the kitchen.

Q was kneeling on the floor, shaking and hunched over a puddle that James could only assume had been the teen’s stomach contents.

“Q…” James knelt beside the youth, placing a warm hand on his back, “It’s alright Q, they’re gone now.”

The young witch shook his head, “How could you act so calm around them? Those monsters…they’re the reason half of us don’t have families…”

“I did it because I had to.” James nodded, “I’d have done much worse if it meant keeping you and the other children safe.” He sighed, “I only wish is that you hadn’t been dragged into it. I’m so sorry I had to treat you like that.”

Q gave a humorless laugh, “You, I didn’t mind. It was _them…_ ooo, I wish I could have put belladonna in their drinks, the bastards.”

James shook his head, “That would have only made it worse, Q…” He trailed off, his eyes catching sight of the large shadow that was being cast upon them both.

He only had a moment to react, shoving Q out of the way as a sword sliced through the air. James barely dodged the blade himself, though evading it sent him sprawling on the floor.

“I knew it.” It was one of the hunters, a younger one he hadn’t been paying much attention to during dinner, “Prepare to return to the hellhole you crawled out of, _witch.”_


	4. Chapter 4

James could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he faced the hunter, trying to get to his feet quickly. Despite the fact that James was unarmed and facing a hunter intent on killing him, he was glad that the hunter’s attention was not turned toward Q.

Though the fact remained that he was an unarmed witch facing a sword wielding hunter.

There was nothing for it then. As the hunter swung his sword down at James, the witch muttered the first spell to come to mind. The sword in the hunter’s hand uselessly hit the side of James’s face, no longer hard steels but a harmless flower.

“Damn you, witch…” The hunter snarled, tossing the flower aside and attacking James with his bare hands.

Now James was stranger to fighting. In his younger years, he had fought off (and perhaps killed) numerous hunters. But this hunter was younger and stronger, and James could feel him gaining the upper hand slowly but surely. It was only when James was on the floor and the hunter had his hands around his throat that he began to worry about the fate of the children should something happen to him. He only prayed that the hunter would not find them…

A sharp clang rang out in the kitchen, and James could feel the weight of the hunter fall on him as the pressure on his throat eased. Gasping, James looked up to see Q standing over them, gripping a frying pan tightly.

“Q…” James croaked, rubbing his throat as he pushed the hunter’s body off of him.

“What were you doing?” Q hissed, “You couldn’t just turn him into a toad or something?”

James shook his head, “I don’t use magic to fight…” he paused, looking down at the hunter. He had never wanted to use magic to harm another person, he felt that would only make him into the monster hunters claimed he was.

But it wasn’t just James’s life that was on the line now, he realized. He couldn’t let his honor endanger the lives of the children in the future… “Let’s tie him to the chair.” He said finally, running a hand through his hair tiredly before pulling the young hunter into a kitchen chair.

Q helped James the best he could, muttering a spell to cast ropes around the hunters hands and feet. “What do we do, James?”

“First, I need you to go to the cellar and get the truth elixir.” James nodded, “Then you need to pack up all of your things, and help the children pack their things when they return.”

If Q questioned James’s request, he didn’t show it, making his way to the cellar.

James waited patiently for Q to return, planning what would happen next. It was obvious they could no longer stay in that house, James would have to take the children and flee. He’d have to figure out where to take them, and how best to take care of them during the journey.

But first, he needed to deal with the hunter.

“Here you are.” Q murmured, passing the bottle to James.

James rolled the bottle in his hand, “Alright…” He sighed, going to the hunter. Dabbing a bit of the potion on his finger, he opened the hunter’s mouth and rubbed the mixture on the inside of the man’s lip.

James didn’t use the truth elixir very often. More often than not, all he would need to do in order to get the children to be honest with him was to perhaps threaten to use the bitter concoction. The thought of having to swallow the foul tasting potion and being unable to keep from spilling the truth usually got the children talking.

And judging by the sour expression twisting the hunter’s face, the strong taste was enough to wake the dead (or close enough).

The hunter blinked his eyes open, his face breaking into a scowl when he saw James, “ _Witch…”_ He made to stand, but then realized he was tied to the chair.

“Did you tell the others you were coming back here?” James interrupted.

“No.” The hunter’s eyes widened slightly at how quickly he answered. Then he snarled, “You _drugged_ me!”

“And you tried to kill me, I think you’re getting off easy.” James rolled his eyes. Well at least the hunters weren’t expecting the young one to report back. “Will they come looking for you?”

“Probably.” The hatred in the hunter’s eyes blazed bright.

So they had a limited amount of time before the hunters returned. “Alright…” James sighed, turning away.

But Q surprised James, grabbing the hunter by the front of his shirt, “Why would you attack us!?” He shouted, “What did we ever do to you?”

“You’re monsters!” The hunter shouted back, “All of you! You unnatural demons, murdering innocent people!”

“We never hurt anyone, you liar!”

“He’s not lying, Q.” James muttered, “He’s just mistaken.”

The hunter glared at James, “I’m not mistaken. I’ve seen the evil you monsters do! I watched your curses kill my family!”

James knew the young man was only sharing the information because of the effects of the truth potion, but it was still devastating to hear about families destroyed by the feud between witches and hunters.

Q was not so moved, “And so you think it’s alright to just burn whatever witch you find, guilty or not?”

“You’re all guilty! And my death will be avenged.”

“Don’t get so excited.” James muttered, waving his hand to pack up all the kitchen supplies into a chest, “We aren’t going to kill you.”

The back door creaked open slowly, and James turned to see the children standing in the doorway, the older children carrying the younger.

“Mr. James…” One of them said quietly, watching the scene warily.

“Pack your things.” James said firmly, “We’re leaving tonight. Q will help you.” He gave Q a hard look, not allowing room for discussion.

Once Q and the children were out of the kitchen, James turned back to the hunter. He really couldn’t be much older than Q was, “What’s your name?” He said calmly.

“Alec.”

“Well Alec.” James knelt down to the young hunter’s eye level, “I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen here: we are going to leave, and you are not going to follow us.”

The hunter didn’t answer, simply glaring at James.

“I’m sorry you had to suffer because of an evil witch, I truly am.” He continued, “But every single one of those children have suffered due to an evil hunter…and there is _nothing_ I won’t do to protect them.”

With that, James took out a knife. The hunter, Alec, grit his teeth, his face pulled tight in resignation and his eyes wavering slightly in the face of death.

As James saw Q leading the children out the door, he flipped the knife, pressing the handle into Alec’s hand.

“Don’t follow us.” He said calmly, before turning and following the children, fleeing with them into the dark of the night.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The journey through the woods was an arduous one. It would have been a challenge even if James had been by himself, it was near impossible with the children. The children, bless their hearts, did their best to make the journey go as smooth as possible. The complaints and whining were limited to the younger of the group, the ones who couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just go home, the ones who couldn’t walk for long periods of time. The older children (though older in this case meant anyone over the age of eight) were practically saints in James’s book: keeping the younger children distracted with stories and even carrying them when they got too tired.

Q was especially helpful: he would often conjure fun illusions to entertain the children, singing songs to them to keep their minds off the journey, giving the smaller children his portion of food, and even carrying more than one child at once.

James did his best to care for the children: making sure their campsites were properly warded, finding food for them to eat when he could, and transmutating food from rocks and trees when he couldn’t. While he could magically create food for them, James knew the food would never fully satisfy them. It would keep them alive, yes, but only just.

It was during the second week of their aimless journey that James found himself sitting by the campfire, keeping watch over the children as they slept. It was the third night in a row in which he had stayed up all night, and it most likely wouldn’t be the last. They still had much ground to cover as quickly as possible in order to put plenty of distance between them and the hunters.

Thinking of the young hunter, Alec, made James’s heart ache. To be so young and already so involved in the bitter war between witches and hunters… Granted, James’s own children were too young to be involved in such violence, but the violence always seemed to find them…

James didn’t even realize he was getting tired until he blinked and found himself lying on his side, with his pack as a pillow and a thin cloak draped over him like a blanket. How long had he been asleep? Were the children still safe? He could see that the fire was still going strong, so perhaps he hadn’t been asleep too long…

That was when James felt a hand moving slowly through his hair, starting from his hairline and gently making its way to the nape of his neck. Blinking, James turned his head slowly to see Q sitting beside him, watching the fire as he stroked James’s hair.

“You should go back to sleep.” James muttered, sitting up slowly, “You need all the sleep you can get.”

Q turned his gaze from the fire to look at James, “So do you, James. You need it more than me.”

“I’m fine—”

“Like hell you are.” Q snapped, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb the children, “You’re going to be dead on your feet if you keep going like this.”

James shook his head, “I’ve handled worse, don’t you worry about me.”

“Of course I’m going to worry about you, James.” Q frowned, brow furrowed.

“It’s not your job to worry about me, Q.” James said firmly, “You’re under my care, it’s my job to look after all of you.”

Q clenched his fists, “You _don’t get it,_ do you?” He hissed, closing his eyes tightly for a few moments before looking back at James, “I am not a child anymore.”

James did have to relent to Q’s point on that topic: Q hadn’t been considered a child for a while. “Be that as it may, you’re still my responsibility to protect—”

James didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Q had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close.

 _“You don’t get it…”_ Q repeated, just once, before desperately pressing his lips to James’s.

There were very few thoughts that were going through James’s mind at that moment. The only truly coherent one was _Oh, he got it._


End file.
